My Tornado Of Destruction Strikes Again - Dear Lord I Post Here Alot..

[luckylego]

SO..

After the last couple months being incident free.. Lego decided to go back to her destructive, bratty ways this last week. She went from being able to be left alone without even the slightest worry that she'd be destructive, to making a mess EVERY TIME, even if we left for 20 minutes. I have a feeling it's because my roommate brought home a kitten a few weeks ago.. Even though she absolutely loves him, she's been very difficult and hardly listening to us since.

After 3 days in a row of her re-shredding the couch that she tore up when we first moved in 6 months ago, we moved her into her own separate room. It's completely empty, apart from her food and water dish, her bed, and her toys - LOTS of toys. I stuff kongs for her, I buy her treat dispensing brain game toys, and nothing works. The first day she did great in there.. The second she started chewing the base boards, and today I walk in to find her bed in pieces. completely shredded to the point where it's almost unrecognizable.

I'm so discouraged right now.. I don't know what to do. She's honestly been on her best behaviour the last while, I don't know what her issue is. I want to shout at her, but I know it wont do any good. I can't crate her, because when I do she pees and trembles so badly it's like borderline seizures..

So basically.. WHAT ELSE DO I DO??!

Honestly I thought she'd kicked this habit, and now she's acting like a total jerk It's like she WANTS something to destroy. I'm worried about leaving her in there tomorrow without her bed now, because if she doesn't have that to wreck I'm sure she'll find something else.. And I can't leave her loose..

Any new ideas?

 

[southerngirl]

Hmm... Has she had less exercise than usual? If you trick train have you been doing it less lately? Do you stuff the kongs with the same stuff or do you switch the flavors around. Sorry for all the questions I'm just trying to think of why she went back to being destructive.

 

[jackienmutts]

Oh brother, I'm so sorry to hear this. I can identify, truly I can. Alfie (my boy on the left in the pic), was HORRENDOUS!! I can match you a couch, and raise you two, and throw in a porch swing, 1/2 my backyard, pillows, and don't get me started on other 'stuff'. I finally had to call in a behaviorist, cuz I was at my wit's end. I was doing everything I knew how. *sigh* That was going to be my next question - since she can't be crated (nor can Alf, he HATES it, and broke the crate), and IF her exercise has been the same, and if nothing else has really changed, could you have a behaviorist come in and spend some time and offer some suggestions? It was the best thing I ever did. Was everything solved over night? No. But we had a defined path and a plan, and a basic regimen, and it started while she was there, right in front of her (cuz he started acting out - she got to witness some of his 'stuff'). Little by little I saw improvement in him everyday - altho now still, at age 6-1/2, I still can't give him full run of the house. Let him find a plastic bag or some paper (like newspapers, magazines, a bill), and he'll shred it to bits.

So - I'll ask the obvious ... Southerngirl already asked the first question, how much exercise is she getting? And how much is she getting before you leave? And how long are you gone?

 

[Amateur]

Maybe he is just testing you a little bit ... would it help to go back to square one and start over again ... follow the path you did last time - cause I guess it worked initially. Maybe he wont take so long to get back where he was again -- just a refresher course

 

[luckylego]

Hmm.. Well I know that her exercise has been sliiightly less than normal, but I didn't think it was enough to make a difference in her behaviour - Apparently I was wrong! She usually gets out every day for at LEAST an hour - usually more, but that's the bare minimum. But lately it has definitely been a bit less. My boyfriend tries to get her out for at least a 30 minute walk in the morning, and so far that's really been helping.
But I wouldn't put it past her to be testing me either. My boyfriend and I went out after her latest wave of destruction and spent nearly 100$ on new toys and treats for her, like a new Buster cube, and so far she's left the room alone.. But I don't know how to keep her from reverting back into getting destructive just because she feels like it. Maybe I'll try starting her back from square one and hope it sticks this time?

 

[MaryK]

Oh poor you but I think it's back to square one time. Seems everything else isn't working

More exercise, back to square one sounds like she needs more than one hour. Maybe split her exercise times up throughout the day. I know how hard it is to fit that in though with work but just a thought. I think she's bored, toys are just not doing it for her. Have you tried Kong's with a treats stuffed inside? Probably rhetorical question though.